Thinking About Music

Martin, whose Substack Notes from My Burrow I follow, talks a lot about music--concerts he goes to, artists he admires, music he collects. As I read his essays, I realized that music hasn't played much of a pert in my life for a very long time--partly because my bad hearing doesn't allow me to fully appreciate it, and also because I really enjoy listening to audio books or reading, rather than music. 

But then I started thinking about music that I have loved. 

Here, in semi-chronological order are some of the artists/pieces that stick in my memory:

Home on the Range (I was very young.)

Bolero (it was the finale of Holiday on Ice and I was mesmerized)

Harry Belafonte (the first LP I ever purchased)

Mariachi music (summer school in Mexico)

Joan Baez (first year of college)

Piaf--especially Non, je regretted rien

Leonard Cohen--Suzanne

Red Clay Ramblers- esp. Merchant's Lunch

Reggae-Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff By the Rivers of Babylon

Jacques Brel

Yo Yo Ma and the Bach Cello Suites

Ashokan Farewell- Ungar and Mason

The Pizza Tapes - Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, and Tony Rice

Oh, dear-- I keep thinking of more. Of course I was a fan of Elvis when I was in my early teens. And The Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul, and Mary. And the Beatles and . . .

What about you? What are your musical memories?

 

Rabbit Rabbit

                                                

Soup and Cornbread

After eating Thanksgiving leftovers on Friday, we were ready for some simpler fare.  The turkey frame had been simmered for hours, resulting in a beautifully rich and complex broth--to which I added potatoes, cannellini beans, celery, and onions. When this had cooked half a day, I made some cornbread--per John's special request.

For the first time in many, many years, I had departed from my usual standby of Pepperidge Farm dressing for the feast. I'd been seduced by a recipe for cornbread dressing that included eggs and heavy cream. I'd never heard of such a thing, but, throwing caution to the winds, I tried it. 

And it involved, of course, making some cornbread on Wednesday. I used the White Lily Buttermilk Cornbread mix and the result was more crispy and delicious that any I'd made before. (I suspect that it was because I mistakenly used more canola oil to grease the skillet than was actually called for. Quite a lot more.) And when John and I tasted it, we knew we'd have to have more soon.

Be that as it may, the dressing, which used crumbled cornbread, torn bits of baguette, celery and onion, eggs, sage, melted butter, broth, and the afore-mentioned heavy cream was sensational! It was like a savory bread pudding and good with or without gravy. And the crusty bits of cornbread retained their integrity. 

So last night I made cornbread again, repeating my mistake of too much oil. 

And it was good.

 

Silent Caturday--from the archives

 

A Burden Shared

This morning when John started to move the still quite heavy turkey from its overnight repose in our frigid mudroom, his back seized up and he set the roasting pan and its contents on the kitchen table and reached for the ibuprophen.

"I'll put it in the oven away from the dogs in a minute, " he said.

I thought about moving it myself but knew that would sorely aggravate my back. Both of us down in the back--quel bummer!

Then, when he reached for the roasting pan, inspiration! I got one handle and he took the other and the remains of the feast was effortlessly transported to the oven to await further dissection.

Such a simple thing but to me it was a moment almost of revelation--this is what partnership or marriage is about. 

Together strong.

 

Wishing You All . . .

                                          Happy Thanksgiving!

Down in the Back

All this cooking has me "down in the back"--as the folks around here used to say. It's an unspecified back pain that feels like a muscle spasm and, if the heating pad and rest don't work, is best dealt with by what I call the Big Pill--a generic Percoset. 

I try to avoid the Big Pill but holidays and the attendant kitchen time make it inevitable.

Better living through chemistry!
 

Making a Start

I love doing our Solstice/Christmas cards. One might think it would be boring, repeating the same scene almost fifty times. I don't find it so. 

It's a challenge and a learning experience to discover the best looking and most efficient process. And there's almost always something new to tweak on each card.

So between prepping dishes for Thanksgiving (cranberry gelatin mold made yesterday, along with pomegranate glaze for turkey) and normal chores, I'm snatching moments to work on the cards.

Tomorrow: pumpkin chiffon pies (they'll go in the freezer) and a brown butter/shallot/ pomegranate infused gravy/sauce to be reheated come the big day. 

And a few more cards!

 

John's Family Pictures

 

Dear Sirs

                                              

Once again, your party displays a stunning disregard for the American middle class (what's left of it) as your president and the Secretary of Wrestling Education move to take away 'professional degree' status from nurses, teachers, PAs, social workers, and others--a re-designation that will deprive them of federal aid in seeking graduate degrees.

The administration's disdain for higher education is obvious and well documented--and, indeed, without the uneducated, where would the GOP be today?

 I urge you to oppose this callous move which will harm many of your constituents-- front line workers who deserve your support.

Foggy All Day

                                        8:30 am

And around 2:30. . . waiting in line to pick up the Josie. A weird day . . .

 

The Game's Afoot

Thanksgiving is less than a week away and I pull out my loose-leaf collection of holiday recipes, looking for the traditional pumpkin chiffon pie-which I serve frozen and slightly thawed-- and my grandmother's crunchy cranberry gelatin-- which John and I love as a refreshing treat well after the meal.

We will be fourteen at table and everyone will be contributing to the feast. Along with the pie and gelatin thing, I'll do the turkey--there's a pomegranate glaze I'm looking forward to trying-- and the dressing too. 

It's not that much but I have to plan ahead and make various bits ahead of time--almond brittle for the pie on Sunday, gelatin salad on Monday, brine the turkey and make the glaze on Tuesday, prep the celery and onions and bake the cornbread for the dressing on Wednesday--

With any luck, it'll all come together.

 

Holding On